Gum base agent

Gum base agent, which endows the chewing gum with a foaming, plasticizing and chewy property, consists mainly of polymer gelatinoid generally insoluble in water and fat, such as natural rubber and synthetic rubber, etc., as well as of softener, filler, antioxidant and plasticizer.
Gum base agents include chicle and dammar extracted from plants, paraffin and microcrystalline wax extracted from petroleum, lanolin extracted from wool and other natural materials as well as some synthetic macromolecular chemicals like polyvinyl acetate and butadiene styrene rubber. As a food additive added to bubble gum and chewing gum, etc., it makes them foaming, plasticizing and chewy. Among more than 30 kinds of gum base agents used worldwide, polyvinyl acetate is of the most common use assisted by other base agents. Paraffin, polyvinyl acetate, ester gum and butadiene styrene rubber, etc. are allowed in China. The maximum usage of paraffin is 50g / kg. It also can be used as a moisture-proof, anti-sticking and oil-proof food packaging material. Polyvinyl acetate is synthetic and relatively cheap. Its maximum usage is 60g / kg. The shortcoming that it becomes stiff when cold and softened once encountering human saliva can be remedied by adding about 5% polybuten. Ester gum enhances the strength of the film and gives a taste of natural resin, accounting for about 10% of gum. The dosage of butadiene styrene rubber depends on general production need. These gum base agents are only for chew use and are non-absorbable by the body and thus nontoxic for they are not dissolve in water and fat.
Gum confection (chewing gum and bubble gum) is made of gum base, sugar and essence, etc., wherein gum base made up 20% to 30% of it. At the beginning of this century, almost all the gum confection was made from natural latex like chicle. With the growing popularity of chewing gum, natural latex became in short supply and other similar latex began to come into usage, followed by the use of synthetic substances. The gum base must be insoluble inert material dissolved in saliva. The composition of gum base is very complex, including natural gum, synthetic rubber, resin, wax, emulsifier, emollient, gelatinizer, antioxidant, preservative, filler, pigment, lake and flavorings. The available gum base includes bubble gum there, soft bubble gum, sour soft bubble gum, sugar-free bubble gum, chewing gum, sour chewing gum, sugarless chewing gum. And corresponding gum base also can be produced according to the manufacturer's needs.

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